Eugene Kohn, who co-founded Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) in the mid-70s, has created many significant architectural works over the past decades, including a number of Hongkong Land's buildings in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Vietnam. Yet, alongside his grand designs, there is a quieter side to this great man of architecture.
As well as being a highly influential architect, Kohn is an accomplished painter. A recent exhibition of his work at The Rotunda in Exchange Square gave the people of Hong Kong a chance to get up close and personal with his work, which includes striking cityscapes, landscapes and a number of abstract pieces. "I started painting while I was very young," says Kohn who flew in from London for the exhibition. "My mother was a very good artist and had a show at the Guggenheim when she was 100. I would sit by her side when I was five years old and paint while she painted. I'm not sure what I did — probably scribbles, but it was fun to do. I've basically painted all my life."
Indeed, his interest in art was influential in the young Kohn's choice of architecture at college. The dean advised him that it would be a suitable career for someone with such leanings, particularly since his natural ability as an artist allowed him to paint and present his early designs in an eye-catching fashion. After completing his studies, he served as a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy for three years and, after stints at a couple of American architectural firms, he co-founded KPF in 1976.
Today, as Chairman and Principal, he travels the world from his twin bases of London and New York. In his spare time, there's nothing he likes to do more than paint. Kohn, who names American modernist John Marin and English landscape painter JMW Turner as influences, especially likes to depict the cities that he visits for his work. New York is a favourite.
"I spend a lot of time in New York. The skyline gets 'burned' into your head," he observes. "I paint from memory - you know where the important buildings are, so you can place them on the canvas. It's impressionist: I'm not trying to capture exactly the way it is. The New York skyline is the only one in the world that has a history of tall buildings — you have the Chrysler, the Woolworth, the Singer, the Flatiron. They were all built between 1914 and the early '30s and represent the famous skyscrapers that gave New York its great image. That skyline is rich because it has history. It's interesting to have a skyline where you feel 100 years of life representing the growth and importance of a city."
That said, Kohn is clearly a big fan of Hong Kong, a city to which he has been coming for years. "It's changed so dramatically with the number of buildings. The coastline keeps changing, buildings are bigger, taller, and quite exciting. It's changed dramatically, and I think for the better. It may be haphazard, but that's part of its charm," he says.
"Just look at my paintings and there's a whole series of vertical elements trying to compete, trying to get some light. That's what my art is talking about."
